Sony RX10 IV confirmed

New flagship superzoom boasts 24fps shooting with AE and AF tracking

Sony has expanded its RX10 line of superzoom compacts with the flagship RX10 IV.

The RX10 IV arrives almost a year-and-a-half after the RX10 III. Sony claims the camera has the world's fastest AF time of 0.03sec (among fixed-lens cameras equipped with 1in sensors).

Sony RX10 IV specs

20.1MP 1in sensor

BIONZ X processing engine

24-600mm f/2.4-4 lens

315-point phase-detect, 25-point contrast-detect AF system

24fps burst shooting with AE/AF tracking (for up to 249 images)

3in, 1.44million-dot tilting screen

2.35million-dot OLED viewfinder

Electronic shutter up to 1/32,000sec

Dust- and moisture-resistant body

Wi-Fi, NFC and Bluetooth

The new camera features an AF system that combines 315 phase-detect AF points with 25 contrast-detect points, and this covers around 65% of the frame.

With this, Sony claims the camera is able to continue to focus on moving subjects and maintain auto-exposure, even when shooting at 24fps.

Sony also credits this to High-density Tracking AF Technology, something it has also included in its previous A6300 and A6500 compact system cameras. A range of additional focusing technologies, such as Touchpad AF and Eye AF, are also on hand, as is a focus-limit switch on the lens barrel.

The RX10 IV also sports a 24-600mm f/2.4-4 lens, which appears to be the very same optic as on the previous RX10 III, and this has Sony's Optical Steadyshot system built into it.

The camera also uses a 1in-type 20.1 MP Exmor RS CMOS stacked image sensor with its own DRAM chip, and a BIONZ X image processor with a front-end LSI.

As we expect from Sony, the camera offers 4K video recording. Like the RX100 V, it manages to record at a 4K UHD (3840 x 2160pixel) resolution without pixel binning.

The camera also offers an anti-distortion electronic shutter that allows it to shoot silently at shutter speeds up to 1/32,000sec.

Other features include a 3in tilting LCD screen, a high-resolution OLED viewfinder and the Wi-Fi, NFC and Bluetooth triplet of wireless technologies.

Sony RX10 IV price and release date

The Sony RX10 IV will be available for £1800 in the UK and $2000 in the US, and it will be available from October.